Bangkok floods could last weeks: Thai PM

BANGKOK - Thailand's premier on Wednesday warned a confused and on-edge Bangkok that incoming floods could last for four weeks, as panic buying peaked and rising waters shut down the city's second airport. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters that the capital's flood barriers might not be able to hold back a mass of run-off water from the north as the country continued to grapple with its worst flooding in decades. "But I'm fifty percent confident that the inner zone of Bangkok will not be completely flooded," she said, apparently toning down her comments from the previous evening when she said central Bangkok flooding was "highly likely". The crisis has been plagued by contradictory information from national and local authorities, further confusing the city's 12 million residents who have been bracing for the onslaught of water for days now. A high tide this ...